REQUIEM FOR THE BIG EAST - THE 2014 NCAA TOURNAMENT
The ESPN production Requiem for the Big East which aired on March 16th chronicled the rise and fall of the old Big East Conference. Many fans of the teams from that old league and a new incarnation of it were not happy with the documentary. They decided to stage their own version. The finale for their tale was to be the 2014 NCAA Tournament and its star was the descendant league, the new Catholic Big East. It would prove to be the definitive story of the end.
Ten schools banded together in 2013 to form a new league from the ashes of the old Big East purchasing the right to use its name for their new genesis. Never before had a league been formed with so much hype. It however was false hype predicated on the past. It was bound for failure the moment it was formed as it would never be able meet its supporters' high expectations. This is the story of hubris gone wrong and it culminated in the disaster of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
The new Catholic Big East expected that all it had to do was field teams, play lots of home games against weak opponents, and wait for many bids on Selection Sunday. It however did not work out quite that way. The early signs were there in the OOC portion of the schedule when league teams failed to beat enough good opponents and added to that woe with unexpected losses to supposed inferior teams. This was followed up in conference play when members failed to separate themselves from one another. The mediocre records of teams resulted in the unthinkable with just four of the ten teams invited to participate in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Adding to the shock, the selection committee chairman stated that the new Catholic Big East Champion would not have made the field as an at large candidate. This meant that only three teams were at large worthy. Even more insulting, one of the NCAA invitees was relegated to participating in the play in game to be staged on a rival’s home court.
The new league’s diehard fans dismissed all the warning signs. They belittled media members that questioned the strength of their teams. They deluded themselves into thinking that they were better than others thought and the high seeding of two of their teams would hold up and carry the day.
Fast forward to the first Sunday of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Xavier Musketeers flamed out in the play in game against an ACC team and did not advance. The Providence College Friars fell to another ACC team, the North Carolina Tarheels. The league’s two star teams, the Villanova Wildcats and Creighton Bluejays, however won their first games and moved on. Their high seedings meant that both should win their second game and make it to the Sweet-16 and many league fans thought this was a certainty and birthright. Reality however presented a different scenario. The last two new Catholic Big East teams exited with a whimper. Villanova lost to UConn, a team that had been left behind. Creighton got smoked by Baylor, a team from a conference where football was king. The league ultimately had no representation in the Sweet-16. Its lone two wins in the tournament were over Milwaukee and La-Lafayette. The new league and its fans attempt to fool themselves and others that the Big East was still alive failed. The performance of this new league formed from the ashes of its predecessor is the definitive proof that the old Big East is dead forever. May the Big East finally rest in peace.
